Tesla CEO Elon Musk unveils supersonic bullet train alternative "Hyperloop"

South African-born American billionaire and founder of space exploration company SpaceX, Elon Musk, has revealed the initial alpha design for his bullet train alternative, "Hyperloop". The Hyperloop is a revolutionary system consisting of a large transport tube with capsules that float within it holding six passengers each, traveling at over 1,126km/h, according to documents released by SpaceX. The Alpha design, announced on Monday (Aug 12), claims lower construction costs and energy usage than a bullet train and its initial design demonstrates that it would be able to transport passengers some 557km from San Francisco to Los Angeles in only 30 minutes. For the full 57-page SpaceX document, visit this page Musk is also the co-founder and CEO of Tesla Motors which is assisting in the Hyperloop design plans. TRADITIONAL BULLET TRAINS STRUGGLE With recent high speed train plans seen in Latin American countries like Mexico, Argentina and Bolivia, the only real flagship project in the region is Brazil's 511km Rio de Janeiro-Sao Paulo-Campinas bullet train budgeted at 35.6bn reais (US$15.4bn). First tendered in December, 2010, the project has been hit with public skepticismas well as numerous postponements, the latest being Aug 12due to a lack of private sector interest. Will new transportation technologies such as the Hyperloop be a potential alternative for such projects in the near future or is it just wishful thinking still light years away?